Abstract
People often encounter reminders to memories that they would prefer not to think about. When this happens, they often try to exclude the unwanted memory from awareness, a process that relies upon inhibitory control. We propose that the ability to regulate awareness of unwanted memories through inhibition declines with advancing age. In two experiments, we examined younger and older adults' ability to intentionally suppress retrieval when repeatedly confronted with reminders to an experience they were instructed to not think about. Older adults exhibited significantly less forgetting of the suppressed items compared to younger adults on a later independent probe test of recall, indicating that older adults failed to inhibit the to-be-avoided memories. These findings demonstrate that the ability to intentionally regulate conscious awareness of unwanted memories through inhibitory control declines with age, highlighting differences in memory control that may be of clinical relevance in the aftermath of unpleasant life events.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 397-405 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Psychology and Aging |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2011 |
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Keywords
- Emotion regulation
- Executive control
- Forgetting
- Inhibition
- Memory control
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aging
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Social Psychology
Cite this
Intentional Suppression of Unwanted Memories Grows More Difficult as We Age. / Anderson, Michael C.; Reinholz, Julia; Kuhl, Brice A.; Mayr, Ulrich.
In: Psychology and Aging, Vol. 26, No. 2, 06.2011, p. 397-405.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Intentional Suppression of Unwanted Memories Grows More Difficult as We Age
AU - Anderson, Michael C.
AU - Reinholz, Julia
AU - Kuhl, Brice A.
AU - Mayr, Ulrich
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - People often encounter reminders to memories that they would prefer not to think about. When this happens, they often try to exclude the unwanted memory from awareness, a process that relies upon inhibitory control. We propose that the ability to regulate awareness of unwanted memories through inhibition declines with advancing age. In two experiments, we examined younger and older adults' ability to intentionally suppress retrieval when repeatedly confronted with reminders to an experience they were instructed to not think about. Older adults exhibited significantly less forgetting of the suppressed items compared to younger adults on a later independent probe test of recall, indicating that older adults failed to inhibit the to-be-avoided memories. These findings demonstrate that the ability to intentionally regulate conscious awareness of unwanted memories through inhibitory control declines with age, highlighting differences in memory control that may be of clinical relevance in the aftermath of unpleasant life events.
AB - People often encounter reminders to memories that they would prefer not to think about. When this happens, they often try to exclude the unwanted memory from awareness, a process that relies upon inhibitory control. We propose that the ability to regulate awareness of unwanted memories through inhibition declines with advancing age. In two experiments, we examined younger and older adults' ability to intentionally suppress retrieval when repeatedly confronted with reminders to an experience they were instructed to not think about. Older adults exhibited significantly less forgetting of the suppressed items compared to younger adults on a later independent probe test of recall, indicating that older adults failed to inhibit the to-be-avoided memories. These findings demonstrate that the ability to intentionally regulate conscious awareness of unwanted memories through inhibitory control declines with age, highlighting differences in memory control that may be of clinical relevance in the aftermath of unpleasant life events.
KW - Emotion regulation
KW - Executive control
KW - Forgetting
KW - Inhibition
KW - Memory control
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79959292634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79959292634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0022505
DO - 10.1037/a0022505
M3 - Article
VL - 26
SP - 397
EP - 405
JO - Psychology and Aging
JF - Psychology and Aging
SN - 0882-7974
IS - 2
ER -